What Media Bias? Stephen Colbert on the War in Gaza
Everyone seems to be divided over Gaza — One Direction has all but lost its identity over the issue. And the media is no exception.
In a segment on The Colbert Report devoted to the conflict, Stephen Colbert lamented the current state of affairs.
“This conflict in Israel has been going on for — What is today? July 31?” He paused. “3,000 years.”
Colbert then went on to outline the accusations of a pro-Israel slant in the media, showing clips of interviewees criticizing the prevalence of Benjamin Netanyahu on American television screens.
“I never see one Palestinian being interviewed,” said Rula Jebreal, MSNBC contributor, in one clip.
Colbert dead-panned that he hasn’t noticed any pro-Israel bias in the media — and mocked CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for reporting from the “Situation Kibbutz,” rather than the “Situation Room.”
On the other hand, all images of dead bodies and destroyed buildings abound — the real anti-Israel bias, according to Colbert. After all, “We all know whoever has the most dead bodies wins.”
Colbert then tried to report on the conflict without any bias, and predictably couldn’t get any words past the censor.
Well, except the comment: “The entire situation is f***|ing BS.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO